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College Planning Simplified
How to Nail Your Supplemental Essays
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In this episode, Stephanie and Lindsey break down the supplemental essays that impact admissions outcomes, from Why Us to Why Major to the short quirky questions students are unsure how to answer. We share how we help students sound authentic, show real fit, and stop writing what they think colleges want to hear. We also cover:
• The difference between the personal statement and school specific supplemental essays
• The biggest signs a Why Us essay is generic and how to fix it
• When it helps to mention professors, programs, classes, or campus visits
• How to write honestly when you chose a school for “vibes”
• Coaching undecided students through Why Major prompts with intellectual curiosity
• How to avoid empty name dropping and instead show what you have already explored
• Addressing practical majors and ROI without sounding shallow
• Approaching quirky short answers as high impact personality signals
• Finding real “community” and “identity” stories without forcing a diversity narrative
• Setting boundaries on vulnerable topics and avoiding trauma dumping
• The misconception that essays should be brag sheets instead of reflection and growth
If today's episode resonated with you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share this podcast with someone who needs study guidance right now.
Welcome And Why Supplements Matter
SPEAKER_00Feeling overwhelmed by college admissions? You're not alone. Welcome to College Planning Simplified. I'm your host, Stephanie D'Astusa with Advantage College Planning. Each month, I'll sit down with industry professionals and consultants to bring you expert insights from across the admissions landscape. Clear strategies, honest guidance, no unnecessary stress. Let's simplify this together. Welcome back to College Planning Simplified. Today we're talking about supplemental essays: the why us, the why major, the quirky 150-word questions, and the identity and community prompts that trip up even the strongest applicants. Because here's the truth: the personal statement gets all the attention, but supplements are often where admissions decisions are actually won or lost. They show fit, they show interest, and that's where lots of students honestly phone it in. Joining me today is my colleague Lindsay Roy, fellow college consultant and previous admissions professional, who's read thousands of these essays and coached students into some of the most selective schools in the country. We're going to talk about what makes a supplemental stand out, the biggest mistakes students make, and how to write something authentic, even when you're staring down your eighth Why This School essay of the season. Lindsay, welcome to the show. Thank you. Thanks for having me, Stephanie.
SPEAKER_01I'm so excited to talk about this topic.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Well, you have so much expertise. And I know that this is an exciting piece of the process for you. So I wanted to get you on.
Personal Statement Vs Supplemental Essays
SPEAKER_00Lindsay, let's start off by setting the stage and talking about the realces in the personal statement versus what we're going to continue calling the school-specific or supplemental essays. How do admissions committees use these two essays really differently?
SPEAKER_01I think it really comes down to what a student decides to reveal in either essay. So if a student writes their personal statement and it reveals to the admissions committee something that the rest of the application doesn't share. So maybe it's a personal story about their family or tradition or something about their personal qualities or characteristics. I think that helps the admissions committee put into context the students' personal aspects with their academic criteria, their academic profile, the pieces of information that they're gleaning from the transcript or test scores or course rigor. So I think that that's the role of the personal statement is to reveal that information. The supplemental essays give a student an opportunity to talk more practically about their life, their interests, their intellectual curiosity, their activities, and the ways that they are so excited about the colleges that they're specifically applying to. So I think there is kind of a difference in both what colleges are asking and what they're looking for in the two different essays.
SPEAKER_00Wonderful. Thanks for setting the stage with that. And parents and students, um, when we talk about supplemental essays, these are the school-specific essays that now that the college application is live and open, you'll be able to see if a school requires a supplemental essay or not. They're usually shorter in nature. We see about 250 to 300 words max as the norm. And they can be clumped into categories. We're going to try to categorize them today to make this conversation flow.
Why Us Essays That Prove Fit
SPEAKER_00Lindsay, let's first talk about what we call the why us essay. The what why are you interested in our school? What's the single biggest giveaway that a student wrote a generic why us essay?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, I'm going to use the word reveal a lot in our conversation today, Stephanie. So I hope that's okay. But I really think that in these essays, they should make sure students should make sure that they're doing two things. One is that they are revealing that the student has connected themselves with that institution and that they have shared something additional about themselves in that short essay. So if the essay doesn't do either of those things, if it doesn't demonstrate that the student has any understanding of the college, the college's community, the culture of that school, and it doesn't reveal any new information about the student, then that's a total miss. Then the essay is kind of doesn't do the student any favors because it really reads as very generic and not personal at all.
SPEAKER_00Great. Thank you. Another big giveaway, and this isn't so generic, but I've read essays on the other side of the desk that actually had the name of another institution. Oh mess. They were clearly just copy and pasting, and oh, that was really a ding. That was, yeah, a hard pass on that one. Should students name specific professors or classes or programs? Or do you feel that reads as a tryhard done? Right.
SPEAKER_01I I go back and forth on this, to be honest. I think if a student is authentically interested in something specific about a school, for example, I was working with a student and we were looking at a college's supplement and it did ask, you know, is there something specific about our college that you are really excited about? And in our research of the school about a year ago, when I was working with the student, we discovered that they have a specific study abroad program to Germany. The student loves German, but he also wants to be an engineer. And the study abroad program was for engineers in Germany. So it was perfect. It was like the program was made for him. So I think that's authentically he is so excited and really hopes that he gets to go to that school for that specific study abroad program. So I think if the student does find that thing, that that connection point between them and a professor or them and a class or them and a specific program, then I think that's exactly what they should focus on. And that's exactly what they should share with that school in that YS essay.
SPEAKER_00It shows connection. It shows that the student actually put some time into doing some research, right? Yeah. So that's what we asked them to do is dig in and see how this aligns with your interests. Um, along the same vein, what if a student has visited campus? Do you think that's worth noting?
SPEAKER_01Again, I think it depends. I think if the campus visit helped the student to make that connection, maybe the tour guide talked about something specific, or maybe while they were visiting, they had a chance to sit in on a class and it was really helping them to understand the academic climate of the school. Then I think that's appropriate. But I think if they just say that they were on campus, I don't think that that's gonna make a difference in that essay or for that school.
SPEAKER_00I agree. Is there a why us essay that you remember loving? And if so, what made it work for you?
SPEAKER_01Yes, I worked with a student who he was applying to a school that his parents were alums. And he so he was familiar with the with the community because he was actually born in the area when his parents were students. This the parents lived in student housing, like a housing community. They were married, they were older, and so he has pictures of growing up in that community. And when he was a himself a high school student, they since moved out of the area. And he was really involved in habitat for humanity, and he ended up becoming the president of his school's chapter of habitat, and he did a lot with the organization. And then he was also a math nerd. Oh my gosh, Stephanie, this kid was so smart. The ability that he had to analyze data and understand statistics was amazing. And so he really was curious about the impact of kind of like the housing creep in his area and why there was less availability for affordable housing. And it made him connect back to his roots and the affordable housing that the university had built for married students. And so he was able to make this connection between the university housing to the university that he was applying to and the statistical analysis project that he did on his own as a senior as president of his habitat. It was like wow, it was like the amount of connection that was made in this essay was amazing. And it was so authentic. Like this was exactly who he was. And he ended up going to that school, and um, it was the perfect fit. It was exactly what was designed for him. It was really cool.
SPEAKER_00He really came full circle too. I thought I love that. It was awesome. Yeah, it was really cool. How do you coach a student who genuinely picked a school for the vibes or the rankings and not some deep academic reason? How do they write something honest that doesn't sound shallow? Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So I think that they have to dig deeper into those vibes. So I think we ignore the rankings, right? I no stock in rankings at all. So we don't talk about that. We never talk about a ranking in an essay. And hopefully we're not even using the ranking in making the decision to apply. But I think it's really valid for a student to pick a school for the vibes, especially if they're undecided on their major or they're just not, you know, they know they want to go to college. They know that they want to continue being a student, but they're not sure what that really means to them. So I think they dig deeper into those vibes. What is it about the student culture? What is it about the community that they're excited to be a part of? I remember sitting in committee and a student wrote an essay about, you know, a specific dorm that they wanted to live in. And they had obviously done their research about that. And I remember having a conversation with our director of admissions, and he was saying, you know, don't we want that student on campus who's so enthusiastic about living in that dorm, who's done the research about the residence hall and knows like they're gonna be a champion of that residence hall. They're gonna be perhaps a future RA. And I think that that was really eye-opening to me, that it was like this this is a real community that a college is building, not just in the classrooms, but in the residence halls, in the football stadiums, in the Greek life. Like I think that that makes a college a college. And I think it's perfectly appropriate to talk about those parts of the school in a YSSA.
SPEAKER_00I love that you bring up that committee uh discussion because just as we want to see students envisioning themselves on campus, we as admissions professionals want to envision them on campus and how they are going to shape the community that we're trying to build, right? So I love that. Are there any phrases or cliches that you would ban from your students from using in writing these why us essays?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think anything that sounds cheesy to a student is off limits, right? And and I think our students are good at this. And I think that they know when they're being inauthentic. They know when they're saying something just to say it. And so I'll say it back to the student and I'll be like, does this sound like you? Or why are you saying that? And oftentimes they call it out. They're like, well, isn't that what the college wants to hear? So I don't think that there's anything specific that comes to mind. And I think it's just catching the student on writing something that they think the college wants to hear instead of writing something that is true to them.
SPEAKER_00Wonderful. Let's
Why Major Essays For Any Student
SPEAKER_00move on to the why major essays. What do you do with a student who's genuinely undecided? And you mentioned this, but is applying to a school that requires this essay.
SPEAKER_01Well, first I hope that they have an option to select undecided. So that's a choice. If the choice is to enroll in the school or apply to the school through an exploratory studies program or an undecided major, then I think they should pick that and they should talk about how they are interested in a variety of things. And then we, me and the student have a conversation about the things that they are interested in. So we might talk about their AP history class that they took last year and how they really loved learning about colonial history and the foundations of the system of government that we use. Perfect. Then that's curious, even if they don't want to major in poli sci or anything to do with that. Or maybe we talk about something in their AP psych class that they really loved, even if they don't want to be a psych major. So I think still demonstrating that they like to learn and that they understand that going to college means continuing to learn is great. And then maybe even we focus on the way that they learn and they talk about how they contribute to classroom discussions or they're always staying after class to talk with their teachers in high school about a specific subject or a topic. I think that demonstrating that the student is still a student is important. And knowing that they are open-minded and want to learn about a variety of things before landing on their major is a good way to approach that essay.
SPEAKER_00I actually think that an undecided essay that shows deep intellectual curiosity across disciplines could actually be the more interesting essay to read about. I love that.
SPEAKER_01Yes, I totally agree with you. When a student can make a connection between AP bio and a sociology class that they're taking, it's like, oh, you are already thinking on the next level. And that's what a college is looking for. That's perfect.
SPEAKER_00Especially and know and know your school, right? Know the institution. Is this a liberal arts college or a research university that's admitting by major? I mean, it just so know the institution and how you come across. How specific should students get is naming a professor's research. So going back to the details, should a student um call out a professor's research? Is that a good move or maybe a risky one? I think it's not original anymore.
SPEAKER_01I think a lot of students do that. I honestly think that's still okay though, because it does demonstrate that the student has done their homework, that they've at least looked at the website of the academic program that they're interested in and they've discovered a professor who is doing research that they're curious about. So I think that that's not necessarily risky, but I think it's just not original. I think that there are ways for a student, again, it goes back to revealing things about themselves as well as revealing what they're curious about doing once they're at the school. So I would want a student to tell me about something that they've done instead of just citing a professor at the institution who's doing research that they want to be a part of. So I think it's just a missed opportunity for a student to talk about ways that they've already thought about the subject. Let me put this in an example. I had a student who is really interested. She loves dance. Like she was a dancer in high school. She was a part of her school's dance ensemble, dance team, but she was also really interested in physics. And so she did this really cool project on how the physical components and the mechanics of this one particular dance jump led to like a higher jump, right? Like they got off the ground in a high. And I was like, okay, this is really cool. And she did, she helped her dance team members like learn how to physically move their body in this different way using the physics of this move. And I just thought that was really cool. And then she realized that she, there was actually a class at one of the schools that she was applying to, which was understanding the physics of movement. So it was a way for her to reveal what she already did, that she'd already demonstrated that she was so curious about this. And then she just also cited when she was filling out the application for that particular school that she hopes that she gets to take that class because it's exactly up her alley and all that that way. So I think students should make sure that again, they're talking about themselves as much as they're talking about the school.
SPEAKER_00It's making that personal connection and not just name-dropping and letting it go. Yeah, exactly. Do you feel like it's ever okay for a student's why major answer to be about something practical, like perhaps career stability rather than passion?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, this is important, I think, because I think we're hearing now more than ever that families, students and families are concerned about return on investment and is college worth it? And what about what happens after I graduate? So I think that's certainly valid. And I think it is okay for a student to talk about majoring in a program that they know is going to provide them opportunities for jobs once they graduate. I think that's totally valid. And honestly, a college should be prepared for that. And they should be ready to enroll students and graduate students who are going to find careers that are out there for them. So I think that that's really value add. And I think that students then should do research about what that looks like. Are there career fairs on campus? Are there internships or co-ops that are going to help the student land that job? And so I think if they do talk about more than just like, I want to major in finance because I want to make a six-figure salary when I graduate, that's not what we want them to write about. But we want them to write about how they know they want to have a career that is going to provide for their life. I think that's certainly valuable.
SPEAKER_00Provide for their life so they become successful with so they can be successful alums, right? How can they give back to the exactly right? Yeah. For those students, and maybe this is more of like an intellectual curiosity, not a why major specific, but for those students that really don't have their why, maybe they they're not super academically curious yet. Um, they don't really have one yet. Where do you start this conversation to help them find their why?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think that students sometimes do need to be pushed. I know that, you know, 16, 17-year-olds are going to opt to look on YouTube, to doom scroll, to go play with their friends, like to do these things as opposed to push themselves to be more curious. So some of the things that I do with my students is I assign them a podcast to listen to and I tell them, okay, we're both going to listen to this podcast. I'll pick on finance again, you know, where we learn about um the market and, you know, something that's happening, and we listen to a podcast together and then we talk about it. Or I'll have them read academic journals and almost, you know, come back to me and tell me what they've learned and why they liked learning about that. And then I think that that we do have to push our kids to do that type of thing. And that I think that's okay to push them in that way. And I think for parents listening, like sometimes I'll have a podcast on in the car with my nephews in the car. And, you know, they're only 10 and 11. I have a two year old. So my two year old's not listening to the podcast. But, you know, the 11 year old might say to me, Oh, I didn't even realize that, you know, this was something that I could be curious about. So I think that that exposure is really helpful. And I think that that's part of our job is a Adults is to expose our kids to those types of things and to push them to do those types of things when they're not naturally going to
Quirky Short Answers With Personality
SPEAKER_01do them.
SPEAKER_00I think that is a great leeway into the next section, which is the short answer, the quirky question, sometimes the list that uh colleges are asking students to build, you know, your top five books that you've read or academic resources. And I love that. So, so students doing what you're coaching them to do, listening to the podcast, reading books and articles, are building their arsenal of academic resources that they might note on an application down the line. So let's talk about these short answers, these quirky questions. We're seeing more and more of these. Why do you think schools are asking these what we odd questions? Like, what's your favorite word? Or what's on your bookshelf? Why are they asking these?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think that it's a way for the college to get to know the student's personality and how they think. And I love it actually that a college asks this. I also think that there's a human element in the admissions process. Regardless of how an admissions office is using AI or anything like that, there is still a human who is reading a student's application across the board. And I think that human wants to make a connection with their applicant pool. And when they do, I think that that's awesome. And I think, you know, in committee, when when a school does this, the conversations are about these things, like, oh, this is a kid who loves dogs, or their favorite word is, you know, pedestrian because, you know, this or that. And I think that that's a way for them to make a connection with the applicant. And I think that's great. And I think it also for the applicant, these are the ones where I really want them to be super thoughtful and intentional when filling out these really quick one-off questions, because I think that is a way for a student to reveal more about themselves in a way that does show who they are.
SPEAKER_00So, in saying that, do you think they carry more weight than most students assume, given how short they are?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I do actually. I think if they're done well, they really can. I think that they can move the needle in a way that a student might not even realize. So yeah, I do think they can.
SPEAKER_00Do you find that your students in general overthink these, these informal, like quick questions, or do you think they underthink them?
SPEAKER_01I think they underthink them, to be honest. I think that they're too afraid. Well, but I guess I'm I'm changing my mind. I think it's both. I think that students are too afraid to be fun and funny and quirky. And I think it's they are always going for what sounds most impressive. How can I make myself sound smart? How can I make myself sound like I'm the most impressive person in the world? And that's the wrong way to think about these. Instead, I want the student to think about who they really are and the funny things about themselves, like the weird things about themselves. And, you know, those are the things that make them them. And that's what the college is looking for. And so I think it's not necessarily an overthinking or an underthinking, it's a wrong thinking. It's thinking about them trying to be impressive when instead the college is really hoping that they learn something unique about the student because everybody has a unique thing. Everybody has their little whatever it is. Like I mentioned the word, my favorite word is pedestrian. I like the way the D and the P sound together. I like that it has dual meanings. Like I like all those weird things about it. I could say the word pedestrian over and over in my head, and I just think it's so fun. So that's what I would say. I don't think it necessarily makes me sound smart or anything about that. I just like the way the P and the D make my tongue feel. So that would be what I would hope a student would focus on.
SPEAKER_00Well, I love that, Lindsay. And I'm gonna use that word with you all the time now. I learned something new about you. And then I do agree with you. I have these conversations with students, and it's almost like they feel like the college is trying to trap them. Like they're trying to pull one over on me. Like this feels human, this feels informal. I'm on guard now. Like for sure, I'm gonna answer this incorrectly. And I agree with you, there's such a human element in this that we're really trying to pull out of these students to not sound so polished and robotic and like your parents read it and wrote it for you. So, in getting these students to think about it's kind of an extension of the mission of the personal statement is telling me something new, telling me something about your character and your interests, right? So exactly with you. How do you, in the same vein, how do you help a student who freezes up because they feel like there's no right answer?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I want students to get help with this process all the time because I think also when we talk about ourselves or when we have conversations about this, sometimes students are able to make a thought process work by talking it out. So I can imagine a student having a conversation with their parent about these things and just talking through it might trigger something that a student then remembers. It's like, oh yeah, that is me. Or, oh yeah, I remember that I did do that. So I think that getting help is always appropriate. And I think sometimes students think that getting help is the wrong way to go, but that's how we live our lives, right? Like how we aren't living in silos. We we need to collaborate with each other. We need each other. So I think it's perfectly appropriate to ask your friends, ask your family, does this sound like me? What would you say about this answer? And those conversations can help.
SPEAKER_00I love that question. Does this sound like me?
Community And Identity Prompts Demystified
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Let's move on to chatting about. I'm gonna clump them together: the diversity, the community, the identity essays. We see these. Um, maybe an example of this would be describe a community you belong to and your role or your impact within it. I think that's a really common one that we're seeing. How do you approach this prompt with a student who says, I don't think I have an interesting story to tell here. I don't really have a community, or I'm not diverse. Or where do you start? Yeah, this is great.
SPEAKER_01I think that students don't realize how many communities they're a part of. So I start with identifying first that. So, and we think about our identifiers, right? So a student is a student, so they're a part of an academic community in their high school. They're a part of an academic community within within those classes in their high school, right? So um, you know, if they're part of the AP program or their dual enrollment program, like that's community within community in their academic life. They may be an athlete, so they're a part of an athletic community. They may be a sibling, so they're part of the, you know, family community. Um, they may have a really important religious community. So I think that we start just by identifying all the ways in which they are part of things. And then we talk about what their role is within those communities. I think that students don't realize how impactful they are sometimes until they take a step back and reflect on it and understand that they're, you know, like how big their communities can be. I had a conversation with a student and we talked about how their community was their family. They're the oldest of three, and, you know, the role of that microcosm community of being a sibling. And so, you know, he ended up writing about what that role is in his world and how being the oldest made him who he is, and how that is interesting. And I think that's great. And at first he was really hesitant about using family as community, and I was like, of course that's community.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. I love asking students a question when trying to figure out their role is what would, you know, a sibling or a team member or um someone on your team, how would they tell what would they say if I asked them to describe you? So flipping that, having them really step outside of themselves and say, like, well, I'm the the team mom, right? I'm the one who always has the band-aids, or I am the funny one. I'm the comedian in the group. And so that's a role. That's what we want to think about. It doesn't necessarily have to be a scripted um or um president of something. It can be much more informal. How do you handle it when a student wants to write about something vulnerable or sensitive? And how do you help them find the right boundary?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think that in these cases, it's important for the student to first process what it is that they're sharing so that they're not just trauma dumping into the essay or sharing something that they haven't really come out of yet. And so I think that it's tough. I think the student needs to be have enough distance from what it is that they experienced in order to write about it so that they can write who they are now, um, so that they have reflected on the experience and that they're able to come out from that. I think if a student is still going through something that's really traumatic or makes them feel vulnerable, then it's not the appropriate topic. Then they're just not ready to write about it and they should pick something else to write about. So I think it's where they are within that experience.
SPEAKER_00It's once you can get to that reflection piece that you know that um that you're ready, right? And having those discussions with students and and really prompting them to look back and re reflecting so many times are like, I'm still in it. I'm still in it, and that's okay. We don't need to write about it. We don't need to write about it. Yep. Do you see students overexplaining their identity because they think that's what's expected? That's what the college wants. And if so, how do you pull that back?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think we have to put it in context. So, is the identity that they're talking about relative to the their life in that moment? So, has that identity played a role in their high school experience? So, has that identity been a part of a club that they've been involved in? Has that identity somehow influenced them to do something or to participate in something? And then I think that's great and perfect. But if their identity, it's just them, they don't have enough to demonstrate. There's no examples to share. There's no way that they have experienced that yet. So I think that they have to have examples to share.
SPEAKER_00This is really valuable.
The Real Goal Beyond Bragging
SPEAKER_00Let's end on a misconception. What is a common misconception students and families have about what these supplemental essays are supposed to be about?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think the common misconception is families think that every essay is an opportunity for a student to brag and to list accomplishments and to impress the pants off of an admissions office. And I think that when we take that off the table and when we explain to a student that failure and growth and reflection and realness is the goal, then that's the truth of it. And so I think when we can show families that an essay works best when it is full of examples of real life and real stuff, good and bad, then that's what a college wants to wants to see. I had a good conversation with an admissions officer who said, you know, if we read an application and everything is glowing, you know, accomplishments are off the table. The student has never struggled or demonstrated that they have ever had to pick themselves up and start again, then they're gonna experience that for the first time on my campus. And now I've got to deal with that. No, I want the student who has learned how to fail, who has learned how to get the C and come back from that, and who's learned how to learn. And that's the student who's ready to thrive in my community, not the student who's just sailed and always succeeded and always, you know, gotten the gold star because they're gonna struggle and they're not gonna know what to do when they struggle.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. We want to see that you can problem solve. We want to see that you're resourceful, that you um will know where to look on campus to get the assistance that you need, that you will matriculate from the institution. Right. I love that you said these are not um places to brag, to list your accomplishments, because students and parents, we have an activities list on the common application. That is where you list what you've done. Um, these short essays, the personal statement, this these are more about you, who you are. And I think that for the supplementals, especially, I've heard words from you reveal, connect, personal, authentic. So making those personal connections, especially with the why us, the why major, you know, really injecting themselves and their curiosities and how that matches with the institution. I call them like dating essays, like why should I be you? And why should you be a good match for me? So really making those personal connections make them shine and the diversity community, the identity, the short answer, that's where the personality really comes through. So I love that. Lindsay, this was such a great conversation. Um, I really enjoyed it. I'm going to use the word pedestrian with you. I'm now so I learned something about you and um families. I hope that you enjoyed this um session as well and you learned a little bit more about the supplemental essays of it. Thank you so much, Stephanie, for having me. So fun. Thank you.
Closing And How To Support
SPEAKER_00Thanks for listening to the College Planning Simplified Podcast. If today's episode resonated with you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share this podcast with someone who needs study guidance right now. I'll see you next time.